Manchester City 2-0 Brentford (Mahrez P ’40, De Bruyne ’69)
Riyad Mahrez and Kevin De Bruyne scored the goals as Manchester City opened up a 12-point gap at the top of the Premier League and made it 40 points collected from the last available 42.
Coincidentally, Pep Guardiola’s side has that same tally of points left to play for in what is looking almost certain to be City’s fifth title in six years.
And while they will not need that many points to be certain of keeping Liverpool at bay, it would be no major surprise if they went on to match their current run of 13 wins from those last 14 league games.
Last night, it was Mahrez who finally broke down Brentford resistance with a goal that underlined his current worth to the City line-up.
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Lukaku sends nervy Chelsea to Club World Cup final - ratings and analysis09 February, 2022His absence during his recent Africa Cup of Nations could hardly be said to have caused harm to Guardiola’s team as they continued a 12-game winning streak that came to an end in their last drawn league outing at Southampton.
But as City sought to recommence a new sequence of victories, Mahrez was handed the chance to hand them the lead from a 40th minute penalty.
Sergi Canos lost possession cheaply, Raheem Sterling darted into the area and a clumsy challenge from Mads Roerslev left referee Darren England with an easy decision to make.
Mahrez, who had returned to the team with a penalty against Fulham in the FA Cup on Saturday, repeated the trick against David Raya, thumping an unstoppable shot into the top left-hand corner.
It was his seventh consecutive appearance for City in which Mahrez had scored and made it 16 for the season – comfortably City’s top scorer with Sterling next on nine.
The Algerian winger is not always the first name that leaps to mind when City’s glittering array of attacking talent is analysed but Guardiola has no doubt about his importance – not least from the penalty spot which has been an issue on the manager’s watch.
And Mahrez’s composure under pressure was very much needed as City looked below their usual imperious best against dogged opponents.
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Sterling missed with any ambitious bicycle kick and Ruben Diaz’s cushioned header set up fellow defender Aymeric Laporte for a chance which he side-footed wide.
But, for all their possession, not until Mahrez blasted his spot kick home did City record a shot on target.
And Brentford at least offered some threat on the counter attack with Ethan Pinnock working a nice move with Saman Ghoddos before unleashing a low drive which Ederson held well.
City opened the second half with far more verve, the result possibly of Brentford knowing they had to open up to try and seek an equaliser.
Cancelo just cleared the Brentford bar with a shot from 25 yards then weaved skilfully into the area before forcing Raya into a near-post block.
Foden also showed his trademark neat footwork to set up a shot for Bernardo Silva whose drive from the edge of the area was held comfortably by the visiting keeper.
Portuguese full-back Cancelo was becoming a legitimate attacking threat down City’s left and side-footed yet another chance at Raya after 64 minutes.
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But De Bruyne finally removed any lingering anxiety with the second goal on 68 minutes, the result of a catastrophic error from Brentford goalkeeper Raya.
Under pressure from City’s high press, he stroked the ball directly to Sterling just outside the area and initially redeemed himself with a fine reflex save from the England forward.
But the ball broke to De Bruyne who was able to guide it into the open net from 16 yards, a goal that had a relieved Guardiola leaping with delight on the City bench.
There was time for Raya to atone further for his earlier error, with a fine, full-length save to keep out Rodri’s powerful shot but this was little more than a procession towards victory and, ultimately, the Premier League title.
Player ratings
Manchester City
- Ederson – 6
- Stones – 6
- Dias – 7
- Laporte – 6
- Cancelo – 9
- Silva – 7
- Rodri – 7
- De Bruyne – 7
- Mahrez – 8
- Foden – 7
- Sterling – 6
Substitutes:
- Grealish – 5
- Gundogan – 6
Brentford
- Raya – 5
- Ajer – 5
- Jansson – 6
- Pinnock – 6
- Roerslev – 5
- Onyeka – 5
- Norgaard – 7
- Jensen – 6
- Henry – 7
- Canos – 6
- Ghoddos – 5
Substitutes:
- Wissa – 5
- Dasilva – 5
- Mbeumo – 5
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/CyTP5Kg
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